By T.J. Buffenbarger
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (August 17, 2017) – Donny Schatz put on a clinic in front of his home state crowd again at the River Cities Speedway in route to winning the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series feature. After winning the late model feature Fargo North Dakota resident Schatz doubled up on the night with his Tony Stewart Racing sprint car.
“I’ve known a lot of these people for years, they stand behind us through thick and thin and make nights like tonight everything worthwhile,” said Schatz of winning in his home state. “We might not have been the best car but we were there at the end.
Schatz raced with 2018 Knoxville Nationals winner Brad Sweet for the lead through the mid stages of the race before Sweet spun in turn one racing for the top spot. Late in the race River Cities Speedway hot shoe Mark Dobmeier moved into second with one last chance to catch Schatz for the lead during a late race restart, which Schatz was up for the challenge driving away to the victory. The win was Schatz’s first since July 14th at the Kings Royal.
“We had to get into some lapped traffic there and I’m not sure what Brad did, but wherever he went I was going the opposite direction,” said Schatz. “Mark (Dobmeier) had a good run. I saw 13 on the board and thought, ‘here we go’ because he’s pretty good around here. Glad to get (a win) because it’s been a while.”
Sheldon Haudenschild and Sweet started on the front row for the main event with Haudenschild driving to a four-car length lead at the start. Behind the lead duo Kerry Madsen and Donny Schatz were starting to race side by side for the third position when the red flag appeared for a three-car flip in turn two involving Wade Nygaard, Logan Schuhchart, and Brent Marks. Thomas Kennedy also went to the work area with damage to the back bumper of his car. All cars were pushed back to the pit area. Marks and Schuchart made repairs for the restart.
Haudenschild chose the inside lane for the restart and maintained the lead until getting into slower traffic. This allowed Sweet to close in quickly on Haudenschild. On lap 12 Sweet drove under Haudenschild to take the lead. One lap later Kerry Madsen drove by Haudenschild for second, only to bobble off turn two, allowing Haudenschild to retain the second spot.
After a caution for Jordan Adams slowing in turn four the restart was short lived with Ian Madsen getting upside down and Greg Wilson and Shane Stewart piling in. Additionally, Rico Abreu and Hunter Schuerenberg ended up having to go to the work area for repairs to their cars from contact towards the front of the field. Both Abreu and Schuerenberg were running in the top five at the time of the red flag. All drivers involved in the incident returned for the restart.
Sweet continued to lead Haudenschild while Schatz moved into the third position around Kerry Madsen. Just as the leaders were catching the back of the field the red flag appeared on lap 19 for Ian Madsen’s second flip of the night in turn three. Madsen exited the car under his own power.
As the leaders approached slower traffic Schatz pressured Sweet for the lead. While racing side by side into turn one Sweet got sideways on the bottom of the race track an did a slow spin in turn one to bring out the caution flag. Schatz inherited the lead while Sweet restarted at the tail of the field.
While Schatz pulled away during the restart Mark Dobmeier continued his march through the field from the 17th starting position to move into the top five.
Another caution flag for Jade Hastings spinning off the track in turn two tightened up the field with six laps to go. Schatz pulled away again while Kerry Madsen and Haudenschild left the top lane open for Dobmeier to drive from fourth to second during the restart.
Further back in the field Abreu and Haudenschild made contact while racing for fourth position and spun to a stop. Dominic Scelzi also slid off the track to take evasive action to miss Haudenschild and Abreu. All drives involved except for Abreu were able to restart at the tail of the field.
With four laps to go the caution gave Dobmeier one last shot on a single file restart for Schatz, but Schatz was up for the challenge driving away for the victory. Dobmeier held on for the runner up position while Madsen, Daryn Pittman and Sweet rounded out the top five.
World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
River Cities Speedway
Grand Forks, ND
Friday August 17, 2018
Qualifications: 1. 49 – Brad Sweet, 10.724; 2. 1A – Jacob Allen, 10.822; 3. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 10.826; 4. 18 – Ian Madsen, 10.920; 5. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 10.948; 6. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 11.016; 7. 24 – Terry McCarl, 11.021; 8. 21K – Thomas Kennedy, 11.046; 9. 2 – Shane Stewart, 11.052; 10. 19 – Brent Marks, 11.077; 11. 15 – Donny Schatz, 11.093; 12. 24R – Rico Abreu, 11.098; 13. 17A – Austin McCarl, 11.107; 14. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 11.127; 15. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 11.150; 16. 5 – David Gravel, 11.184; 17. 13 – Mark Dobmeier, 11.197; 18. 9N – Wade Nygaard, 11.323; 19. 8H – Jade Hastings, 11.350; 20. W20 – Greg Wilson, 11.459; 21. 7S – Jason Sides, 11.462; 22. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 11.481; 23. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 11.530; 24. 20A – Jordan Adams, 11.635; 25. 31 – Shane Roemeling, 11.745; 26. 1AJ – Trevor Mell, 12.112; 27. 6N – Greg Nikitenko, 12.184; 28. 14K – Tori Knutson, 13.099; 29. 0 – Ned Powers, NT.
Heat Race #1 (10 Laps): 1. 49 – Brad Sweet, 2. 24 – Terry McCarl, 3. 18 – Ian Madsen, 4. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 5. 5 – David Gravel. 6. 8H – Jade Hastings, 7. 19 – Brent Marks, 8. 14K – Tori Knutson, 9. 17A – Austin McCarl, 10. 31 – Shane Roemeling. (First six finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (10 Laps): 1. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 2. 15 – Donny Schatz, 3. W20 – Greg Wilson, 4. 1A – Jacob Allen, 5. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 6. 13 – Mark Dobmeier, 7. 21K – Tomas Kennedy, 8. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 9. 1AJ – Trevor Mell, 10. 0 – Ned Powers. (First six finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (10 Laps): 1. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 2. 24R – Rico Abreu, 3. 7S – Jason Sides, 4. 2 – Shane Stewart, 5. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 6. 9N – Wade Nygaard, 7. 6N – Greg Nikitenko, 8. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 9. 20A – Jordan Adams. (First six finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Dash (8 Laps): 1. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 2. 49 – Brad Sweet, 3. 24R – Rico Abreu, 4. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 5. 15 – Donny Schatz, 6. 24 – Terry McCarl. (Finish determined the first six starting spots for the A-Main)
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 2. 21K – Thomas Kennedy, 3. 19 – Brent Marks, 4. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 5. 17A – Austin McCarl, 6. 20A – Jordan Adams, 7. 6N – Greg Nikitenko, 8. 14K – Tori Knutson, 9. 31 – Shane Roemeling, 10. 1AJ – Trevor Mell, 11. 0 – Ned Powers. (First six finishers transferred to the A-Main)
A-Main (40 Laps): 1. 15 – Donny Schatz, 2. 13 – Mark Dobmeier, 3. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 4. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 5. 49 – Brad Sweet, 6. 2 – Shane Stewart, 7. 5 – David Gravel, 8. 19 – Brent Marks, 9. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 10. 8H – Jade Hastings, 11. 1A – Jacob Allen, 12. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 13. 7S – Jason Sides, 14. 24 – Terry McCarl, 15. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 16. 20A – Jordan Adams, 17. W20 – Greg Wilson, 18. 17 – Sheldon Haduenschild. 19. 24R – Rico Abreu, 20. 17A – Austin McCarl, 21. 18 – Ian Madsen, 22. 9N – Wade Nygaard, 23. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 24. 21K – Thomas Kennedy.